1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of timing and countdown devices, and more particularly, to such a device for pacing an examinee through an examination so that the examinee may determine the time remaining until the examination is over and the question number he/she should be answering in order to complete the examination on time.
2. Description of the Relevant Prior Art
Various types of timing and countdown devices have, of course, long been known in the prior art. For example, devices such as alarm clocks, stove timers, etc. may be set such that they signal the user at a particular, preset time. In the case of an alarm clock, the device may be preset to sound its signal at a particular time of the day. In the case of a device such as a stove timer, the device may be set to go off after a certain interval of time has elapsed.
It is also known to construct a timing device which is capable of counting down predetermined intervals of time and periodically signaling the progressive elapse of the countdown periods. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,158 discloses such as countdown timer that employs a voice synthesizer to announce the progressive elapse of the countdown periods.
However, there is no known prior art timing or countdown device that is suitable for use in an examination setting. In an examination containing a plurality of questions and having a fixed period of time in which to answer all of the questions, many examinees try to pace themselves through the examination by dividing the total time period by the number of questions to determine a response period, and allocating one such response period per question. By spending no longer than the response period on each question, the examinee will be able to finish the examination in time.
While, in theory, this approach is appealing, up until the device of the present invention there has been no practical way of fully implementing this approach. The examinee may provide himself/herself with a watch, and by counting from the time the examination begins, may be able to figure out at which time each question should be answered. However, this approach is impractical for examinations with a large or odd number of questions, and also suffers from the disadvantage that most examinations do not begin at a convenient starting time, such as the start of a hour. Thus, the examinee may have 47 questions to complete in 21/2 hours, and the examination may begin at 2:17. Under these circumstances, using nothing but a watch to pace oneself through the examination is impractical.
Additionally, the examinee may also wish to know what question he or she should be answering at a particular time. Thus, in the example given above, the examinee may wish to know how many questions he should have answered by 4:15. Obviously, a conventional watch or prior art timing device such as a stop watch, etc., cannot practically be utilized to provide this pacing information.
It would be desirable if an examinee could easily determine how much time to devote to each question on a multi-question, timed exam, and ascertain which question she should be answering at a particular time to finish the examination on time.
It would be particularly desirable if an examinee could pace himself through a multi-question, timed examination by the use of a device which is both inexpensive, reliable, and simple to operate.